So you've decided you want to do a martial art, but don't know which one to do, lets face it, there are loads to choose from, providing you are lucky enough to live in the right area.
Not something I really had when I was growing up unfortunately, however there does seem to have been a growth in clubs in recent years, and also in styles followed. All that was really known about to any degree was Karate and Judo during the time I was growing up, and all I had in my area was karate and it wasn't for me, but then how do you know if it is or isn't for you?
A very good question, to my mind you need to determine why you want to do a martial art in the first place. There are many reasons people have - confidence boost, self-defence, fitness, flexibility, competition etc. All perfectly valid reasons, but different arts will give you different results.
If you are looking for a confidence boost, then anyone of them is quite capable of giving you confidence.
If you're looking at Self-Defence, then JuJitsu is probably the best you're going to come across. (personal opinion and I'm pretty sure that many people will dis-agree, it’s just that that’s what I’ve been doing for many years.)Recently I’ve been talking to some people about Keysi as well, and this seems like it has some good options in this area.
If it's fitness you're looking to improve then Ju-Jitsu isn't the best option, some forms of Karate, Kick boxing or TaeKwondo may be better suited. The same for flexibility, these arts are striking arts with a strong emphasis on kicking, and high kicks, these will give you a good workout and result in increased flexibilty through that repeated high kicking!
If you’re interested in competition, what sort of competition? Is it based on forms? If so then you have a multitude too chose from, Karate, Taekwondo, Tai Chi, Kung Fu, it's a long list. If you are looking at pure grappling, then Sombo, Judo are a good start, if it's a bit of everything, mixed martial arts then JuJitsu usually works as a good base then mix in with some Thai Boxing and you’ve the start of a good mix there.
So first look at yourself, what you're capable of, what you want from it and go and try them. If you're lucky you might find the right one first time, but if you don't, don't let it put you off, let the instructor know what you are trying to achieve and if they're honest about their art they'll be upfront about whether or not they can help you.
One thing to bear in mind whatever you decide, a bad instructor can make a good art bad. Don't let them put you off, unfortunately there are a few out there, who either can't communicate their knowledge or are just out to make a quick buck and I've seen it happen that they do this at your(the students) expense.
Author Resource:-
Ian Woolston is a 4th Dan in JuJitsu and has been studying martial ares for over 16 years. Visit EnsoRyo, Ian's martial arts shop for martial arts equipment and more.
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